Railway halt at PNBS yet to be a reality

Vijayawada: The long pending demand for special railway halt at Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) here has not materialised so far.The proposal for providing a halt at the bus station has been pending with the railways for the last 10 years. The passengers getting down from trains moving slowly at the bus station is a common sight and there have been incidents in the past where passengers lost their lives attempting the risky feat. The railway officials indicated earlier that a halt would be announced after identifying the requirement.

Highlights:

• Both bus and train passengers will derive benefit if the halt is provided
• Bus passengers can get train services at the bus station while train passengers will get bus connectivity

Already the State government has provided several facilities at the bus station including setting up of a new passenger terminal after the bus station has become main entry to AP’s new capital Amaravati.

If once the railway halt is provided, the passengers can get train services from bus station while railway passengers get bus connectivity immediately after getting down at railway halt.

Actually the officials of Vijayawada railway division sent a proposal to higher authorities of South Central Railway Zone and Railway Board almost a decade ago highlighting the importance of railway halt at PNBS. Fortunately, there is a suitable site for constructing platforms beside the bus station.

Former senior divisional commercial manager S Subba Rao conducted a survey in the past and submitted a report in this regard.

In the report, he highlighted that there is a unique opportunity of providing railway halt where the main bus station is located. No city has such kind of facility except Chennai, he said.

Moreover, the passengers rush can be avoided at Vijayawada railway station through which nearly 400 express and passenger trains pass everyday from the busy junction.

On the other hand, nearly thousands of employees travelling between Guntur and Vijayawada can get both rail and road transportation facilities at a single point.

Presently, the passengers who want to catch bus after completion of their train journey try to get down from slowly moving trains at the bus station. Moreover, every train passes slowly at bus station point as the railway station is located just about two kilometres from the bus station.

Besides, the railway track at the bus station stretch is entering point to Railway Bridge on Krishna River for Chennai bound trains. South Central Railway Employees Sangh leader A Gurunath said that the halt at bus station would be more useful for both road and railway passengers. If Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu takes the initiative the halt would fructify, he opined.

By Patibandla Srinivas